Notes From The Other Side
by Florence of Arabia
Summary: A series of scenes that follow Pike, Spock, Number One, and George, Winona, and James T. Kirk in the Mirror Universe
1. Chapter 1

Brief note: In my idea of the Mirror Universe it diverged from the main Star Trek universe sometime in the 20th century* (that's what the Star Trek Wiki says). I feel like due to the corruption and incompetence of the Imperial government a lot of the technology we see in Star Trek is only available to the very rich. Most of Earth is economically depressed in addition to being technologically and culturally stagnant. So this universe looks is basically an unpleasant combination of Ancient Rome, The Wild West, any fascist state, and the future.

*One fan theory that I like is that the Mirror Universe was created by the events in the episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" when McCoy goes back and changes history

I don't own anyone or anything and I hope you enjoy!

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George Kirk sits and listens to the admiral give his speech. He has of course heard of Starfleet, who hasn't? But the organization is so shrouded in myth and exaggeration it seems surreal to be seated here at a recruitment center. The speech is nothing he hasn't heard before. All about the glory of the Terran Empire and how all its greatness comes from Starfleet. He talks about how they bring stability to planets that have never known peace and the benefits of Earth's civilization to primitive uneducated peoples. He supposes that this is true, to some extent. Or that he should be more moved by it. It should be why he wants to go into space, but it isn't. It is because, even though he has been taught all his life that there is no planet that can match earth he has always felt that this can't be true; that out there, among the stars, there must be something better than this.

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Winona didn't need to be recruited. For her it was either Starfleet or be trapped in her dead end hometown with some looser and a pack of bratty kids. She has an aunt in the fleet, a science officer. She would come to family events with exotic presents and stories of pointy-eared Vulcans and ferocious Gorn. When Winona is sixteen and tells her parents that she wants to follow her into the fleet, she expects them to be proud but they aren't. Her father yells at her, calls her naïve, says she's stupid or insane.

"No daughter of mine is going to sell her soul to the devil!"

"Harry!" pleads her mom "What your father meant to say…"

"This is your sister's fault! She should be ashamed, recruiting her own niece, and shame on you Winona for buying her bullshit!"

Her mother tries to explain in a way that Winona might have listened to if she wasn't already holding back angry tears.

"Honey, though Starfleet does many good things and there are a lot of noble people in the service…once you join you've signed your life over. They can send you anywhere, make you do anything…and…its dangerous, very dangerous. Its not just the Empire's enemies that you have to worry about…you know how people move up in rank don't you?"

Winona doesn't. She doesn't know about agony booths either. There are rumors of course, but they haven't reached her. So all she does is scream

"So what do you want me to do? Get pregnant like all the other girls I know in the hopes of persuading their deadbeat boyfriends to marry them? End up with some looser like you did? Spend the rest of my life in this god awful little town working some shitty job until I get bored to death? That won't be me, I want more out of life…and you know what I deserve more! I'm smart and I'm strong…" No one has ever told her this so she feels very strange saying it, but she knows its true. She is pretty too with long gold hair and big blue eyes. But though she may look like a doe eyed ingénue or a princess in a fairy tale she's tough too, you can tell by the set of her jaw and the determination in her eyes. "I deserve the chance to achieve my full potential!" She quotes directly out of the pamphlet she's memorized.

She runs upstairs and grabs her things, they've been ready for a couple of days now. She kisses her little sister goodbye and promises that she'll write, and she storms out of the house slamming the door behind her. In the dark at the bus stop she allows herself to cry. She sleeps there, waking up and drifting off again. When the morning comes so does the bus that takes her to Des Moines and the recruitment center.

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Christopher Pike knocks on the door of his mom's place. It's opened by one of the girls, Mandy he's pretty sure her name is. She immediately yells for Rachel Pike who comes down furious.

"This had better be important girl. In case you hadn't noticed I'm with a customer." But she forgets her anger when she sees her son

"My gods Chris, what happened?"

"Bar fight" he mumbles. He doesn't want her to ask any questions, doesn't want her know it was about her.

"Mandy dear would you mind taking the client in my room now. You're younger and prettier than me so I'm sure he'll be happy with the substitution" Christopher smirks at the way his mother insists on saying "customer" or "client" rather than "john" or "trick". But he supposed that it couldn't hurt to make her place sound more respectable. She did entertain a high class of patrons for a one-horse town like this.

"I'm fine mom, really. I just need a place to sleep it off. Dad's been on my case about this"

"What? Wants you to be a nice quiet respectable drunk like himself? Are you even legal drinking age?"

"I'm not a drunk. I just fight. Besides what drinking age?"

"I don't know it but I know its not fifteen. Though I hate to be in agreement with your father on anything he does have a point. It seems as though you're always fighting these days."

"Those cocksuckers who work for Colburn started it" '_They said you weren't worth the money they paid for you_' He thinks

Rachel made an exaggerated gesture of irritation and went into the kitchen. Christopher follows her and leans his long muscular frame against the doorway as she got a washcloth and basin.

"You don't happen to have a raw steak…"

"If I did I wouldn't use it on your damn face." There was no softness in her voice but she is gentle when begins cleaning his face, almost maternal.

Chris doesn't blame her for leaving. She never liked the ranch in the first place and once his father had taken to drink he had gotten exceedingly difficult to live with. He did resent her profession though, ever since he'd reached the age to know what she did and boys his own age had started getting to know the facts of life as well their comments had become intolerable. He knew she didn't have a lot of options and that all things considered she'd done well for herself. Once she'd left taking her talents for organization and bookkeeping with her the already struggling ranch had become impossible to keep up. Once Chris was old enough he'd tried everything but now they were deep in debt and under pressure to sell.

"What set if off this time?"

"Nothing! They just give me shit because they can. I hate it!" he almost yelled saying what had been on his mind "Colburn's friends with all these Imperial high ups, so he's above the law…"

"The law is the will of the Emperor son, always has been always will be"

"Well I'm sick of it"

"Then sell out to Colburn…" she growls at him

"You'd like me to do that wouldn't you? What his boys come in here and brag to you about how soon they'll be running your old man's place once they've got your son good and licked?"

"I don't know why you and your good for nothing father care about that worthless scrap of land, but I won't see you ruined by your own damn stubbornness. Take the money and leave."

"Who'll take care of dad?"

"You don't owe him anything. What's he ever given you besides his name, and it ain't a good one. You're a bright boy…and I'm not just saying that 'cause I'm your mother…you could make something of yourself." She finishes wiping the blood off his face.

"I won't lose to them"

"You already did kid." She said with a mix of tenderness and vexation "You did by trying to keep that shitty ranch, by dropping out of school, by getting yourself a reputation by fighting. You already lost by being born Christopher Pike"

"Well what if I want to win for once?"

"You sure as hell can't do it here"

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A young woman stands on the balcony looking out at the dusky arid spikes of saffron and orange rock. Behind her the guests are making the closest thing Vulcans have to small talk. The governor is here and both species are doing all they can to get him alone for a quiet word or two, even though this is rather illogical.

"I took the liberty of procuring you a drink Miss Barrett." She turns around to see Spock who holds two Plomeek teas, one for her and one for himself.

"Thank you" she says inclining her head slightly. They drink in silence for a moment and she notices that Spock doesn't look like he's enjoying himself

"Is there something wrong with the tea Mr. Spock?"

"No no, I would never insult your parents hospitality" she knows that she has hit on it…well part of it. She reads Vulcans well. Sometimes she thinks she understands them better than she does her own race.

"But…"

"I suppose I simply cannot accustom myself to the Terran way of serving Plomeek tea with ice." He admits

"Why don't I go get you some that's hot then?"

Spock barely shakes his head

"I would not trouble you in such a manner."

Out of the corner of her eye she sees Eric, who looks at Spock with suspicion. Eric is the son of a senator and they have an understanding. By understanding she means that it is understood that they are supposed to be engaged.

"I'm sorry about the tea Mr. Spock. We humans always think it is so hot on your planet that we prefer our drinks cold" What are they doing? Neither of them is comfortable chatting like this but they can't seem to stop. It irritates her because she really likes Spock. Normally they can talk about anything, they once stayed up all night discussing new breakthroughs in physics. But recently something had changed. It seemed as though there was something he wanted to say but couldn't so they were always avoiding some amorphous dreaded subject. She has known him for a long time. As a half human half Vulcan he is a member of an exceedingly small group of Vulcans who have intermarried. This willingness to cooperate with their Terran conquerors had served them well; Ambassador Sarek is one of the richest Vulcans on the planet. But it has gotten him and his son labeled as traitors, only received in society by humans and others who have embraced the Empire. He has business dealings with her father, a wealthy human merchant, and she has known Spock as long as she has been on this planet.

She is about to say something about the weather when he speaks

"You look very beautiful this evening" he says it quickly as though unsure of his ability to finish otherwise.

He's right of course. Her simple red evening dress accentuates her tall slender figure and her dark hair is carefully done up very becomingly in a Vulcan style with a white and silver pendant dangling on to her shoulder. She returns the compliment knowing it sounds false but meaning it.

A servant comes around to collect their glasses and as she hands them over she makes a decision

"Spock, would you care to dance?" She can tell by a flicker of an expression that she has asked him exactly what he had come over to enquire of her. As they drifted towards the other dancing couples Eric shows up to make an attempt at her.

"Am I going to get a dance from you this evening number one?"

"I'm afraid I shall remain with Mr. Spock for the remainder of the night"

She supposes she ought to feel bad. But she feels strongly that he was only interested because his family is, for all intents and purposes, bankrupt. There are lots of other wealthy girls without good names who would be happy to use him as a way to achieve patrician status.

"Why has your paramour given you the moniker 'Number One'?"

"He's not my boyfriend" she says and feels a sense of relief "and I don't know why" "Oh...well it suits you"

"Why thank you Spock"

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He sells his ranch to one of Colburn's men with the man from the bank looking on gladly. To ad insult to injury it's the man who baited him about his mother. Chris just glares, hoping he might actually be able to make him hurt somehow. All the money goes to his dad, so he'll be taken care of…well not really. But he's made up his mind now. His mom has offered to pay for his fare and whatever he needs for the trip. She'd been nagging him for a while to go to San Francisco and now he is.

"This will be a whole new life for you Chris. I get admirals in this place you know, and the stories they tell me…it won't be easy. Its dangerous and grueling, but you're no coward and you're used to working hard. But the rewards… you'll be rich if you're lucky. Soldiers take what they like from the planets they conquer. One man told me they found a planet, completely uninhabited and littered with diamonds and other gems." She smiles wickedly "But you're a young man money only means so much to you…"

"Mother, please. I'm already going"

"I've heard that on one planet there are green skinned animal women for sale. Vicious, seductive, they say no human man can resist them…" Christopher blushes

"Really mother…that sounds like something some damn redshirts made up to impress your girls"

But he can tell she is proud of him. Rachel Pike is the only person he knows who thinks he can amount to more than drifting around the Mojave from woman to woman and bar to bar until his luck and his liver run out. When he says goodbye he gives her a hug for the first time in years.

He shakes hands with the asshole from the bar after the deal is done.

"You'll take care of my horses right?" he asks to reassure himself

"Shit Pike, of course I will." He may be an asshole but he's a cowboy same as Chris. Those are his horses now and he'll treat them better than he treats people probably "You sure you don't want to stay on? You got a gift with them animals"

"No I'm sure…Take especially good care of the chestnut with the white blaze. His name's Tango, he's got a real steady gait and he…he's a smart animal. He knows what you want him to do almost before you do."

"Sure thing. I…I've been looking for a new mount myself." Christopher nods _'I'm going to miss my horse' _he thinks


	2. Chapter 2

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He does well for himself. There are things he learns that he wished he didn't know and people he encounters that he wishes he'd never met, but overall George is successful in Starfleet. His instincts are good, he's a talented pilot, and his colleagues like and respect him. Generally he's excited about his future. After he graduates he works as a teaching assistant, helping instruct the other cadets. Its not his dream job but it keeps him out of the front lines and away from the scheming and backstabbing that you have to deal with on a starship. This is what he's doing when she arrives.

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The hazing process is brutal, but Winona is more than a match for it. One of the instructors, Airienne Moreau, is impressed with her tenacity and takes her under her wing. Instructors and their assistants maintain cliques of younger students who serve them and benefit from their protection and guidance. Moreau teaches her which instructors to avoid and which to impress, how to secure a position as a mistress or captain's woman and how to ward off unwelcome male attention. Apparently the latter is the primary function of the dagger she's been issued. She tells Winona how to use it to mark a man and what you can tell by his scars. A vertical scar on the face for a rapist (or one who tries), a horizontal one on the face for a man who has been unfaithful, and one on either of the collarbones to mark someone as your own. "Of course they aren't for men only. Now I've taught you how to handle them; do you have your eye on anyone"

"As a matter of fact I do"

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Christopher can't figure out why he never thought of joining Starfleet on his own. For the first time in his life he's free. No father to look after and no one pestering him for money. Nobody knows his origins here, he's no longer the son of a drunk and a whore. His uniform means that he could be anybody, for once his clothes are an advantage to him. People no longer look at him and just see some roughneck with no future. He learns to imitate the manners of his aristocratic classmates and something about his looks and the way he carries himself lends itself to this illusion. Winona however sees right through him. One night in a bar she comes up to him and tells him as much.

"I think you're full of shit Christopher Pike."

"Oh and why is that?" Its Friday night and they're both out drinking with their respective cliques. Pike was picked up by George Kirk, who hasn't been able to keep his eyes off Winona all evening. But she's never noticed the handsome, earnest looking man with the soft brown hair and bright blue eyes. She's been two busy being alternately exasperated and entranced by Pike.

"Because you go around pretending to have a silver spoon up your ass" When she speaks she puts her face so close to his that he can feel her breath and smell the whiskey

"How do you know what is or isn't up there?"

"Because you're a rough son of a bitch, that's why"

"Is that a compliment or an insult?"

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Number One is reading in her living room while her mother and father play virtual chess. She should be getting packed, or doing one of them many other things she ought to be doing to prepare for her journey to Earth. Its something she's wanted to do for years now and finally her parents have relented. When she was younger it was easier, she could always find some new degree or program or field of study. But now she is about to turn thirty and the options are limited and the pressure to settle down is getting hard to take. But she made her decision and they have grudgingly accepted it.

Her refusal to marry has frustrated them to no end. 'What is a the point of a daughter if she refuses to advance your position in society' She thinks bitterly. Her mother is especially irritated because she sees her daughter's rejection of matrimony to be a judgment on her decisions, and it is. Her mother is very intelligent, though she goes to great pains to hide it. She's made a good match and done very well, but she could have done better. Number One feels that both her parents are selling her short. Why settle for a senator's son when you can be Empress?

Her mother interrupts her musings "What are your plans for this evening dear?" "You are looking at them" Really she is waiting for Spock to call but her parents would need to torture her with a Centurian slug to get her to admit that, she barely admits it to herself.

"Don't you want to say goodbye to your friends?" Asks her father absentmindedly "What friends?" The other Terrans tease her, call her "The Ice Queen" to her face and worse things behind her back. They say she isn't properly human and try to get reactions out of her. They'd like to try this with Vulcans but that requires a level of stupidity that few possess. But then again they don't know how dangerous she really is.

"What about Eric Tynall?"

"We haven't spoken in months"

"How about Spock?"

"I suppose I ought to say goodbye to him" she says with some irritation. They've been pestering her about Spock for a while now.

"You know I think you two would make an awfully good pair. Sarek and his family come from a very distinguished lineage...and you know he isn't even all Vulcan" "Mother, Father, we've been over this. He's much too young for me and hybrid or no he still has a bondmate."

"No he doesn't." Interjected her father "No Vulcan family will have him, he's a pariah because of his human mother."

Number One didn't know this but rather than let her astonishment show she merely says "I find your constant attempts at matchmaking degrading. I have already informed you of my intentions..."

The butler comes in at this point "Mr. Spock is here to see Miss Barrett"

"Show him in"

Both her parents leave as soon as the butler does despite her attempts to stop them. She had assumed that since Spock was already engaged her interactions with him could not have been anything but friendly. But now she was faced with the possibility that he may have been courting her. She wasn't sure how to feel about that.

When he walks into the room he is clearly there with a purpose. "I came to say goodbye"

"You heard that I was leaving?" She hadn't told anyone about her plans, after all she really didn't have anyone to tell.

Spock blinks, confused. "I was referring to my imminent departure for Earth." "You're going too? Not for Starfleet by any chance?"

"Why yes as a matter of fact I will."

"Oh...well I'm glad"

"I am too" she doesn't want to say this but something compels her to tell him

"I think you were the only person on this planet I was actually going to miss"

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Their first time was in the bathroom of that bar where she called him a son of a bitch. It certainly wasn't their last time. Winona and Chris are both young and angry and wild. They drink a lot, they party hard, they screw anywhere and anytime it suits them. Wherever they go people notice them. They get things for free and if they don't they steal because who the hell is going to stop them?

Being in the Imperial fleet may be rough but you're above those poor suckers who aren't. Christopher may hate agonizers but he can't deny the thrill he gets when he turns his on any fucker who wants to mess with him or hit on Winona. They're not in love but this is the first relationship for both of them and they enjoy the novelty and enjoy each other. Normally Christopher is completely lost when it comes to the opposite sex but Winona makes everything seem natural, he doesn't hate himself when he's with her the way he does with a prostitute or women he picks up in bars when he's desperate.

He doesn't realize how his mentor George feels about her. If he did he'd break it off. George is the kind of man who likes his friend better for being his rival. So he and Christopher and Winona remain best friends throughout Chris's days at the Academy.

When he and Winona break it off George asks tentatively "So would you mind if I asked her out sometime?"

"Of course not...wait how long have you wanted to?"

"Since she first came to the academy."

"Shit George! Why didn't you tell me? I'm sorry, if I knew you liked her…"

They all stay firm friends. Every now and again George worries but he trusts Chris and he trusts Winona to tell him the truth. Christopher can tell that Winona may have liked him but she loves George. A few months after they start dating she tells him so. When she says this she is scared and shy and hopeful.

George manages to advance himself quickly for a man who doesn't get blood on his hands, but maybe that's one of the things that endears him to his superiors. Christopher follows his lead but soon he gets impatient, he has trouble tolerating the incompetence of those above him.

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In a few short years Pike has slaughtered and advanced his way to becoming captain, the youngest man ever to do so. By his side is the beautiful and deadly Number One and the brilliant calculating Spock. When they arrived Pike snapped them up instantly and they are glad to serve him. They could tell that he was going places. He is everything a captain should be; intelligent, fearless and compelling. He is a natural leader of men, people would do anything to please him. The young Spock doesn't want to admit how badly he wants to impress his mentor.

On board their new ship, the Enterprise, Spock and Number One meet in her quarters to celebrate their good judgment. They share Plomeek tea, just like old times. The tension between them is gone, or so Number One thinks. The two have more on their minds besides petty romantic entanglements. With their new ship and new captain they have the universe at their fingertips.

"We seemed to have backed the right horse, as the Terran saying goes" They seem to spend most of their time talking about Pike. Who he should trust, who he shouldn't, who wants him out of the way, who he should get rid of next.

"We did Spock, your idiom was very apt."

"I just worry about the Admiralty. I calculate that Pike has just advanced himself rather too fast for their comfort."

"I don't know why anyone would want to be an admiral. Everyone knows the real power in the empire is wielded by captains with warships. If you survive that you become one of those paranoid old coots."

"On that note Number One, I have always wondered why you do not seek a captaincy yourself? Or do you plan to assassinate Pike?" Spock is suddenly made uncomfortable. He has known Number One a long time and his feelings towards her are complicated, they require a great deal of effort on his part to transcend.

"Heavens no. I just don't feel I have the personality to be a captain. As First Officer I have many duties but do not have people running to me with every little thing. Also I just don't have Pike's...well if I was being bitter I'd say that I don't have the Y chromosome that seems to illicit undue respect. If not I would just point out that people don't tend to warm to your excuse?"

"I am content with my duties and content to be a lesser target for assassination"

"You make an excellent point there"

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End file.
